Dirk Nowitzki made the pact public when asked whether his wife, Jessica, approved of his new whiskers, saying he and several teammates wouldn’t shave until the Mavs were .500 again. This happened after Wednesday night’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and the pact was confirmed by Vince Carter, who credited O.J. Mayo for the idea.

The pact is optional, according to Carter, who said only players who has beard experience were originally approached.

“I don’t really see what’s the big deal, but everybody’s making a big deal out of it,” Carter said. “It was something that came out of the blue. (Mayo) said, ‘Hey, let’s grow our beards.’ That’s easy for me. And sometimes Dirk has one, (Chris) Kaman has one. We just asked people that grow beards mostly.”